A team of San Pedro-based treasure hunters has found and begun salvaging a luxury steamship that sank to the bottom of Lake Erie in 1852, an operation that is expected to provide a window on 19th-Century life--and millions of dollars in gold coins, an official for the group said Tuesday. Steve Morgan, president of the salvage firm Mar Dive Corp.

Does Nessie, Scotland's fabled Loch Ness monster, have a cousin? A handful of sightings of huge serpentlike creatures in Lake Erie were recorded in 1985 and 1987. But things remained quiet until Sept. 4. That's when Harold Bricker and his family returned from a fishing trip with a new sighting, and monster mania began spreading along lakefront communities. The Brickers said they saw a large creature moving in the water about 1,000 feet from their boat.

An air ambulance carrying five people crashed moments after takeoff from Pelee Island in Lake Erie, killing at least two people, and U.S. and Canadian divers searched Sunday for the missing pilot. Search boats rescued a man and a woman shortly after the plane crashed about 200 yards west of the Canadian island late Saturday, said Constable Wayne O'Brien of the Ontario Provincial Police. All those aboard were from Canada.

A storm off Lake Erie dumped a foot of snow on the hills south of Buffalo, N.Y., today and up to 5 inches of snow snarled traffic in the suburbs of Cleveland. The National Weather Service said a cold air mass picked up moisture over Lake Erie and dumped 12 inches of snow near Colden, N.Y., in the Boston Hills south of Buffalo. Almost 7 inches of snow fell at Sherman, N.Y., and the Buffalo suburbs of Hamburg and Springville--both along the lake front--received 2 inches.

Canadian swimming instructor Vicki Keith, 27, completed the first crossing of Lake Huron. Keith, who last year, became the first person to complete a 63-mile double crossing of Lake Ontario and earlier this year crossed Lake Erie, made the 48-mile swim across in 47 hours.

Nearly 20 years after the Cuyahoga River last caught fire, officials say Lake Erie and its tributaries are cleaner than they have been in decades. Scores of Lake Erie beaches will be open in Ohio this year, and more than 25 million walleye thrive in Erie's waters. Boating has become so popular that many marinas in the Toledo area are running out of dock space. A few decades ago, Lake Erie had only three clean beaches, and fish were dying at a rapid rate.

If a fish doesn't cough when released in a water sample at the nation's largest center for freshwater research, scientists figure the water quality is pretty good, said aquatic biologist Robert Drummond. "It's sort of like taking the temperature of a human," Drummond explained. "For fish, a cough is a natural gill-clearing response to get rid of pollutants. They cough in direct proportion to the toxicant." The U.S.

After nearly four months, 6,200 miles and 1,800 gallons of gasoline, three South Bay men proved--in their own minds, at least--that the eastern United States is an island. "We did successfully prove that the East Coast is an island," insisted John Bertsch, 23, of San Pedro. Bertsch and his longtime friends, John Cameron, 23, of Rolling Hills Estates and John Mirassou, 24, of Redondo Beach drove a 17-foot motorboat around the eastern United States and Canada. "If you can drive a boat around it, it's an island," they said.

After nearly four months, 6,200 miles and 1,800 gallons of gasoline, three South Bay men proved--in their own minds, at least--that the eastern United States is an island. "We did successfully prove that the East Coast is an island," insisted John Bertsch, 23, of San Pedro. Bertsch and his longtime friends, John Cameron, 23, of Rolling Hills Estates and John Mirassou, 24, of Redondo Beach drove a 17-foot motorboat around the eastern United States and Canada.